Primed For Prequel
by dougaude
Summary: Told from the first person perspective of six Vault Hunters, this harrowing journey of epic proportions will end with death and only two will escape the Vault of the Warrior. This story is a direct prequel to my series Primed For Extinction. (Delayed until further notice)
1. Prologue: The Man Who Would Be Jack

**Primed For Prequel**

 **Chapter 1: Prolog: The Man Who Would Be Jack**

When I stepped out of the fast travel station I got an up close look of the city of Opportunity. I got to hand it to Jack; he sure did know how to name a place. That didn't mean I respected him, I still wanted to kill that slimy bastard. Still no use dwelling on a place I'll probably never see again.

I turned to Maya and asked, "This really the place? Almost looks too clean, and safe."

"That's the point," Maya answered looking around at the opulent buildings made of shiny metal and clear reflective glass. "Jack wanted this place to look safe and clean, but me and Gaige are going to make sure people know what's really going on here."

"The quest from Lilith right? You had to borrow Moxxi's camera?"

"Yeah that's the one."

I raised an eyebrow suggestively, "Have you looked at what's already on there?"

Maya blushed, "What no?!"

"Oh really?" I countered. "Looks to me like you have."

"Sh! Gaige doesn't need to hear this!"

"Hear what?" I asked. "Look – you don't have to tell me, but honestly why did you look?"

"I was curious, let's leave it at that," Maya huffed, and to forestall an argument I agreed.

"Do Salvador and Krieg have a job?" I asked.

"Yes," Maya said. "They seem to have found one at that bounty board over there. Now if you'll excuse me I believe you and I have jobs to do."

As soon as Maya mentioned it I realized she was spot on. I did have a job to do, and it was a very important one. I had been tasked with getting the things we really came here to be done. Zero – never got used to his haiku – had a job to slay a Forman working on an Underdome. I had a feeling that my job wouldn't be that hard, but still killing Jack's body double? Sounded like a challenge to me.

The only reason I had gotten the job of finding a way to speak in Jack's voice was because 1) I'd pretty much bullied the rest of the team into letting me do this one 2) frankly it was my turn to kill something big and I think everyone else realized this. I looked around and realized everyone had already left. I began to make my way through the city and shortly after turning my first corner and climbing a staircase I encountered a Loader with its back turned.

I took out my assault rifle and shot the thing's gun arm off. Before I could be too proud of myself the bot turned and showed me his primed grenade is his hand. I dove for cover and just barely avoided getting blasted into pieces. After the vibrations stopped I peaked around the corner and blasted the glowing red eye of another Loader.

The thing exploded with much for force that I originally thought that made me realize that it had been an EXP-Loader. Why did Hyperion always have to have those things hanging around? Even in a place so supposedly safe as Opportunity?

After wasting the few bots that I encountered I decided to head over to an area on my map called Living Legend Plaza. It was on my way to Jack's body double, and besides that it sounded intriguing. I walked to the middle of the plaza and pushed the button to activate the tour simulation. The infamous female Hyperion robotic voice came on saying, "Welcome to the Hyperion Hall of History! All citizens who reach the end of our historical tour will receive a sizable tax refund!"

Now I was interested so I headed to the southeast corner of the plaza and pressed the green button on the stand, which issued forth words that I listened to intently. Always pays off to know your enemy.

"In the beginning, Pandora was chaos… and then there was Jack. When Jack came to Pandora, he found a world of danger and hardship. Jack armed himself to the teeth, using the quality armaments of Hyperion – the company he called home," The voice that spoke was a recording of a pleasant sounding male professor. Despite the fact of what the man was saying, I still kind of like him … until I heard the rest of the recordings.

The next one was located at the southwest corner of the plaza.

"Jack learned of a legendary Vault that housed a terrible evil. He defeated many horrors to reach the Vault. Hideous monsters and vicious bandits."

The next one was located at the northwest corner of the plaza.

"And five years ago, Jack defeated the monster inside the vault, triumphed over the evil treasure seekers, and brought peace to Pandora. With that done, the Handsome One staked a claim on the very planet he had saved. For the opening of the Vault bore a secret only he could have predicted."

The next one was located at the northeast corner of the plaza.

"Eridium. This mysterious, alien element flourished, and Jack became and overnight trillionaire."

The last one was located at the east side of the plaza.

"Today, Jack, now the owner of the Hyperion cooperation, has dedicated his life to bringing bandit scum to justice. There is only one word to describe what Jack has become to Pandora. A hero."

"Thank you for visiting the Hall of History. Take this sizable tax refund as a reward for your continued loyalty."

I chuckled briefly then sprinted off realizing I had wasted a lot of time. I didn't really understand Jack better, only that he was a lying sack of rakk shit – but I already knew that so yeah … got to get my head in the game. As I rounded a corner and sprinted between two buildings I came to an opening/depression leading down to the left and into the building.

The way inside was open and at where I was standing there was a system of catwalks that overlooked a lower section accessible by two sets of stairs nearest me that lead down. I looked around for Jack's body double and found him strutting about on the lower level.

I tossed a grenade down one flight of stairs and it pinged off a section of railing and smacked the body double in the head. "We're being attacked!" The man yelled and then a whole bunch of bots came from out of door. 6 doors on the catwalks and around 12 smaller ones down below; since I could deal with engineers pretty easily I decided to take out the loaders first.

Since things were getting a little 'desperate' I decided to pull out my Desperate Hulk – badass Torgue shotgun – Maya hated when I pulled the weapon out and shouted 'desperate' at the top of my lungs. She was all right though – to be honest I think she had a thing for Zero, which didn't make sense. I'm a soldier – the ladies love me!

Realizing I was getting distracted I focused on taking out the loader bots. The engineers were getting annoying so I chucked like, three singularity grenades down below and that pretty much shut them up. After taking down the bots I positioned myself and jumped down on the body double's back, bypassing his shield with a kick and then I snapped his neck.

Angel said, "Grab the pocket watch device he dropped. It echoes his bio-signature to every machine in the immediate area, so his doubles can do his hand-kissing and baby-shaking for him."

"Engineers let the loaders do the lifting. Loaders let the engineers take bandit fire. This is called 'teamwork'."

I heard Jack come on over the announcement system, and chuckled again. I hated the guy, but some of the things he said made me laugh at his brilliance, or lack there of. I went ahead and grabbed Jack's pocket watch.

Angel said, "That pocket watch also records audio – Jack loved to listen to the praise of his underlings. We need to create a voice modulator so you can speak in Jack's voice. Get to an info kiosk."

"Right away," I said.

I found the first of the info kiosks down below where I was and only a few feet away. I pushed the green button and listened to Jack's voice, "Did you know that some people on this planet still believe in silly superstitions like angels, demons, and ancient alien warriors? We like to call them bandits."

Angel said, "Yes! This is going to work – If I get a few more samples of Jack's voice, I can make a voice modulator for you. You need to get more voice samples from the other info kiosks."

"Sure thing," I said and took off. After climbing up the stairs out of the recess in the city I turned left by 45 degrees and immediately came upon another info kiosk – after traveling running for 10 feet. Once I reached the kiosk I circled it until I found the green button. I pushed it and listened again to Jack's voice, "Hey, kids! Did you know your chances of being disemboweled increase by eighty thousand percent upon leaving Opportunity? It's a scientific fact!"

Angel said, "I almost have what I need – just activate a few more kiosks."

Following instructions I turned left and ran under some building supports and reaching a bend in the walkway I jumped down over the railing and landed near another kiosk. I threw a singularity grenade and it sucked it a few engineers. I used my Hulk to tear through the 6 loaders that came out of the doors surrounding the kiosk inside the area I was currently occupying.

After taking out the enemies I pressed the green button near the kiosk and listened again to Jack's voice, "Did you know your staring at the future site of the Opportunity pleasure palace? That's right – for a thousand bucks you can spend an hour with a life-sized likeness of me."

After listening to Jack I sprinted up a set of stairs and back the way I had come. I passed the area where the body double's body lay and I sprinted up another set of stairs. I turned left and sprinted headlong toward the next kiosk. I felt exhilarated I loved running this hard. I jumped and cleared the railing I jumped so far in fact that I landed in some water beyond the info kiosk.

I climbed out of the water and went over to the info kiosk, pressing the green button. Jack's voice said, "Hey, kids! Did you know what your mommies and daddies gave up so your families could live in Opportunity? Literally nothing! Your family is paid to be here – I'm the one who feeds and protects everyone. Remember: we should all love our parents, but love me more."

After listening in I moved back to an area just left and a little beyond the entrance to Opportunity; there I found the last info kiosk. I pressed the green button and listened to Jack talk, "Did you know littering in Opportunity is punishable by death? If not, you also oughtta know complaining about Opportunities laws is considered verbal littering."

After listening to the last message I briefly congratulated Maya and Gaige on uploading the condemning video that would convince people to not immigrate to Opportunity. I then jogged – feeling a winded from all the flat out sprinting – back to the area where I had killed Jack's body double. After facing the info kiosk I turned around and there set into the wall between the two staircases was the door I needed to pass through.

I went through the doorway and shoved a HOT-loader out the door behind me with a sweet karate move. I then popped a grenade after him closing the doors.

Angel said, "Attach the pocket watch quickly!"

I hurried over to the left side of the room and plugged the pocket watch into the slot. After pressing the green button I waited.

Angel said, "I see the files. [Brief pause] All done. Now grab the voice Modulator."

I grabbed it attaching it do my person. Angel said, "Great. Now, unfortunately, you will speak in Jack's voice until you reach the security door. I will tell you the password at the appropriate time."

I tested the thingy and found that it worked, "Testing? Testing one two? One two. And now I have the voice of a douche bag. Great."

As soon as I walked out of the room Angel screamed as she was being shocked, "AAGH!"

Jack said menacingly, "You seriously thought you could hide from me, Angel? Is that what you thought? Say goodbye to your friend, Angel. Say it."

Angel sighed, "See you soon."

After I made it out of the recess Roland said, "You found a way past Angel's control core, huh? Well she kept up her end of the bargain, surprisingly. Time to return the favor. Come on back and we'll steal ourselves a Vault key."


	2. Chapter 2: Where Angels Fear To Tread

**A/N: Welcome one and all to the second long awaited chapter for the prequel to my popular series, Primed For Extinction. I really don't have any viable excuses for me not uploading this sooner so … yeah here you go. In all fairness I'm not used to doing chapters this long.**

 **Primed For Prequel**

 **Chapter 2: Where Angels Fear To Tread**

I nervously liked my lips free of the cake remnants but not fast enough for Axton to notice. I swear sometimes that man has eyes like a hawk. Anyway he talked to me about completing the mission, and asked my how mine went. I told him this, "I want to move to Opportunity."

This, of course, confused the living hell out of him. And I know it makes sense, right? Why the hell would I want to live in a place…? Hello! Does Axton even know me? I asked him and this was his response.

"I would like to think so!"

"Well, Axton, if you truly know me then you should be able to guess why I want to live in Opportunity," I responded and left the poor soldier scratching his head. Realizing that he was too bamboozeled to continue with whatever thing he had been doing before I confused him, I decided to take it upon my shoulders instead.

"Come again?" He asked still major confused. Okay. Not to self: Do NOT confuse someone before you try and ask him or her a simple question.

"You feeling well, maybe you should go lie down. Just tell me what mission you needed to do and I'll go take care of it, besides I didn't do hardly any work on my last one." I looked around to make sure she didn't hear this next part. "Maya was a bit of a hog, took all the kills… I didn't have to fire a shot, so I'm technically still primed for a mission and one helluva fight!"

"Well looks like you're about to get one Gaige, have your Vault Hunter friends give you some extra ammo. Most of them are too bogged down with injuries or 'problems' to help you in this next mission," Roland said over the ECHO. "Are you sure you can handle what needs to be done?"

"Of course I can soldier man!" I said confidently, and for whatever reason I knew I could do it. Which was strange because up to this point I hadn't – myself at least – done most of the fighting I had been involved in. Mostly it had been just good ol' DT taking names and me just shooting him with Maliwan smg's to charge him up.

"Well, looks like you'll be taking over Axton's job. Come up to the command center and you'll get a briefing … and don't be bothered if we talk to you like you're the only Vault Hunter, it's kind of easier to wrap our head around VH's and solving actual problems," Lilith explained.

And that's how I ended up walking past Tannis – which is something I try to do without getting noticed. Instead of being stealthy, I got caught. She whispered in my ear fervently, "I would like to put something in you, a piece of tech would only take a second."

"What the hell?! No fucking way Tannis! EW! Gross!" I said a little too harshly, but the crazy woman seemed to take it in stride.

"Either way…" And suddenly the little viper stuck a four-pronged syringe into my flesh and blood arm.

"HOLY MOTHER OF FUCKING … why the HELL TANNIS! God let go of me!" I snarled and yanked or at least tried to but Tannis had a vice like grip on my arm.

"Stop struggling!" Tannis hissed depressed the rather large like plunger so all the liquid went into my bloodstream. "This will protect you in the end, but you won't like it."

By the time Tannis finished mumbling something about I wouldn't like it, I'd already made my way past her and up the stairs. I turned right twice and walked through the room containing the safe tucked inside one wall to my left. I then entered the control room, very high tech display but not much else.

In fact everything else besides the main display consol in the middle was very low tech, but some of it contained very high tech stuff. I looked up from my observations once someone started talking.

"This isn't a discussion. You're not going without me. Period," Lilith said.

"Look, I need you here protecting Sanctuary. If this turns out to be a trap, I need you to keep these people safe," Roland said. I stayed quiet.

"Is this because Angel told me not to come? It is, isn't it?"

"Lilith, damnit, would you just trust me? Okay?"

"If you get killed I'm gonna be really pissed."

"Noted."

"If you live, I'm tearing those clothes right off your body."

"Also… also noted."

I heard Mordicai complain with, "Ew, Lilith we're standing right here! No one wants to hear that!"

"Go on…" Brick said having just come in from the balcony. I walked up to Roland and said 'reporting for duty' at leas that's that I hoped I said.

"This is it everybody. Lilith, Mordicai? You're protecting the city. Brick'll provide support from Thousand Cuts, and I'll climb up to Control Core Angel from the cliff face. Any questions?" Roland asked getting right to it, no nonsense – damnit he made me nervous, almost too intimidating. Hopefully that queasy feeling would pass in the 'heat of battle'.

"Yeah. Why ain't I goin'? I gotta pay Hyperion back for Bloodwing," Mordicai said in response to Roland's question. I watched them all in amazement, they were legends – at least where my niche back home was concerned on Eden-5.

"And you will. But for now, I need you protecting Sanctuary in case this is just another trap. You'll get your payback, Mordicai, I promise.

"Long as you say so, Roland."

When Roland addressed me I tried looking in his eyes – but of course failed miserably, "Vault Hunter. We have a chance at stealing the Vault key, and stopping Handsome Jack from getting the Warrior. All you have to do is get past a wall that will atomize you, destroy a bunker carrying enough firepower to level a continent, and get through a door you can't possibly open."

"That's his way of saying, "we're probably gonna die,"" Mordicai said.

"It's time to get Claptrap to Thousand Cuts. We need him to shut down the forcefield," Roland told me.

Lilith encouraged, "Make it painful guys."

"This is gonna be fun!" Brick yelled pumping the air straight up with a punch.

After all the comradery inside the control room I decided to go find Axton and ask him for the pocket watch thing. I found him sitting on one of the benches in the center of town. I approached him and asked, "Hey, yo… listen Imma be straight up, I need that voice pocket watch thingy."

Axton blinked at me a little astonished, Christ, was he still super confused? For a moment there I thought he was looking at me, like he wanted to jump me. Whether in a purely sexual or sadistic way I couldn't tell. He handed me the device anyway and said in his normal voice, "Yeah you can have it, take the damn thing. I do not want to sound like Handsome Jack … at all if I can help it."

"I don't really care," Halfway through that sentence I heard myself, sound a hell of a lot like Jack. But then about that – I didn't really care since I wouldn't be doing much talking.

After that embarrassing moment I started walking over to Claptrap's place. For a moment while talking to Axton I realized I'd been fooled into thinking that I could actually blush. But no, that was not the case. As I passed a mirror going to Claptrap's … 'abode' I saw myself.

The telltale signs of a fading sugar rush, it must have made me look normal, and that's probably why Axton was still really confused. Every day since after the first day of high school I'd wanted to disappear completely from the hot chick's category.

Luckily – for me anyway – a few people had died near the Eden-5 first level primary education center, basically a fancy way of saying high school. This gave me the opportunity to not eat anything sweet. I still eat mind you, or else I would be dead. But mostly I ate protein and stuff that would keep me strong on the inside.

I looked more on the outside like a gaunt half robot middle aged teenager rather than a buff really smart and supposedly good looking 'hot chick' that was rumored to be waiting inside of me. I finally tore my self away from the mirror and made my way over to Claptrap.

"FYI… it may take some serious convincing to get Claptrap to head to Thousand Cuts," Roland warned and I didn't really doubt him. Claptrap's central processor was as of now a mystery to me. Mainly because I didn't think we could all afford me tearing into that bastard like a large slice of Devil's Food Cake. Apparently sugar draws out the sexy woman beast in me, not sure if I want that.

As soon as Claptrap saw me he said, "Minion! Let's go to Thousand Cuts."

"…Or not," Roland said.

Claptrap continued, "I enlisted you as my minion, then Angel just happened to attack Sanctuary. Don' you get it?! Jack was coming after me! It's time to take the fight to him! I'll meet you in Thousand Cuts."

I blistered like Claptrap had just insulted me, my family … ah who am I kidding. I think he's annoying, but not nearly as annoying as Jackass. I had the sneaking suspicion I'd be encountering the bastard pretty soon – since I was about to infiltrate Control Core Angel and possible come into contact with Angel herself. If I'm being honest with myself – which I always am – I'm genuinely looking forward to meeting this Angel chick.

None of the other VH's or former VH's – or anyone else for that matter – had gotten my attention. Angel though, better stop thinking about her until I find her and the mission is finished. Just thinking of Angel at the end of the mission prompted me to head for the fast travel station inside Sanctuary and deposit myself inside Thousand Cuts.

After arriving I walked quickly through the front 'gate' of Thousand Cuts (which was unoriginally a skull and tusks of some long dead beast) I immediately was weary for bandits. However I then realized that most of the bandits here knew me to be a Slab, and a few of the Nomads even respected me – which was weird…if anyone asked me why I was in such good standing with them I couldn't tell them.

At a run I dodged around a stationary Hyperion supply crate, hopped over a pile of metal garbage and ran lightly across a metal bridge spanning the gap to the other side. After reaching the other side I veered left and continued running. My legs had gotten plenty of conditioning – I wasn't cutting them any slack, just because one of my arms was bionic didn't mean my legs would get replaced.

After the lovely thought of amputating my legs to add mechanical replacements I arrived in No Man's Land. Craters, blood, decomposing bodies … all the good stuff. After climbing a brief incline I stopped before progressing any more up the hill. I moved forward and found Claptrap tagging one of the Hyperion cover thingies.

"Minion! I've started my attack! I'm gonna tag every last inch of this mountain if it's the last thing I do! Let's go!" Claptrap said and rolled on up the hill towards the death wall. "We're gonna make Jack regret ever setting up shop on this cliff! It'll take him minutes to wash this graffiti off! MINUTES, I SAY! Hey, you comin' or not?"

"No!" I yelled scooting back from the dangerous looking red field of energy blocking my path.

"Oh. Right. You're not a Hyperion robot. I forget that sometimes," Claptrap said and for whatever reason I kind of understood him. But then I realized that not all of me was mechanical therefore his comment was deemed invalid – by me. Claptrap then wheeled to the left over to a control panel. As he finished entering in the code he said, "Aaaaaand open!" The 'death wall' then evaporated before my eyes. Tentatively I stepped past the line and was relieved when I wasn't instantly vaporized. "Onward!" Claptrap said.

I started up the slope but immediately dove for cover as I spotted a fucking drone flying towards me. I popped up and shot – thankfully my Tea Pot blew the thing to pieces.

Brick then yelled music to my ears, "Got some buzzards headin' your way Slab!"

"I will defend you to the death minion!" Claptrap said just as a Loader came down on the path and unfolded. "OH GOD NO I WON'T!"

I sighed and blew the legs off with some corrosive shots with my Tea Pot then I switched to a non-corrosive Jakobs shotgun and blew a sparking hole in the robot where its eye once was.

"Oh you made it pas the security wall huh? That's, uh, real cute. Of course the bunker's still gonna obliterate ya but, none the less, cute," Jack said over the ECHO and I smirked not even bothering to reply.

I continued racking up kills slowly but surely increasing my Anarchy as well as keeping an eye out for anymore of those blasted surveyors. I spotted a group of four near the closed gate to the right at the top of the incline. I looked back down the incline and chuckled at the carnage I had made. Mistake.

The Hyperion commando supervising the surveyors yelled, "Scatter, evasive formation! Then … ATTACK!" He then took my shotgun blast to the face, I managed to clip two surveyors on their way up and then fell to the ground exploding.

The other two buzzed out of range for my shotgun and I switched to my Tea Pot blasting them out of the sky in quick … succession. Okay I may have used up five shots per but one shot eventually ended up hitting them. My Anarchy was souring but it was high enough for me to really be felling its effects. That door I mentioned earlier? It opened and out walked three combat engineers.

I laughed evilly and activated my digistruct claws on both hands. I shot forward and sunk my right and left hands into two guys chests, the claws exploding out the other side – their insides shredded. I pulled out my claws, and sheathing one pair my right hand became more comparable to DT. I used the extended length and power to quickly take care of the last guy, who was under the foolish notion that he could run away from me. Since I didn't want to drain my Anarchy too much I sheathed my claws and pulled out my shotgun. Next time I would just blast them and wait for something major to pull out DT.

"Be careful Slab! My boys see a ton of bad guys between you and the Bunker! I know you can do it!" Brick said over the intercom.

"Roger that," I confirmed and moved forward at a sprint. Red targeting circles appeared and I avoided them by cutting to the right and up the slope avoiding the road.

"I'm making my way up the cliff side, soldier. Keep pushing you way up and I'll meet you at the chamber!" Roland's voice told me.

"Yup, I'll keep pushing!" I told him back.

"Good luck!" He shouted then the connection faded with the sound of gunfire.

I moved forward taking out a couple of loaders hiding on a raised section of rock with a corrosive mirv grenade. I then had to duck behind crates because of two turrets were shooting projectiles my way. I scurried around to the front of them hiding behind some more crates.

"They ain't rollin' out the welcome mat! Maybe you should take out those turrets on the towers so they'll open the doors!" Brick said giving me the option I needed. I couldn't risk taking pot shots; I'd run out of ammo from my constant missing. So in substitute I ended up tossing a Tesla grenade, which arched two electric streams that whittled down the turrets until they exploded. "Knock, knock bitches! Open up!" Brick yelled and the door opened and out poured several Hyperion engineers and a bucket load of Loaders.

I took perhaps five minutes to mop them up, mainly because they had caught my slightly off guard, and I also didn't use Digistruct or DT to take them out quickly. I was conserving my Anarchy. Speaking of which, my levels were reaching the midway point to critical mass – which was awesome.

I moved through he doors and immediately spotted the enemies gathering on the three rising successive levels of the structure in front of me. A badass constructor was deposited on the top level giving me a greater sense of danger. I raised my right hand and Death Trap exploded in front of me. He soured through the enemies and in a matter of a minute or two would reach the badass constructor.

I followed closely behind DT thinning out the enemies enough to speed his passage through. Despite this he somehow still managed to take out the stragglers. I then took the lead plowing through while DT did what he had already been doing. We worked for perhaps the first time as a true team, coordinated and deadly. Because of this the worry of me being on this mission alone faded into nothing, and my confidence rose.

Once we reached the badass loader DT pretty much had a grudge against the hulking thing. I let DT duke it out with the constructor while I used Digistruct to zip around ripping out the throats and severing the heads of the Hyperion engineers with deadly efficiency. The constructor exploded just as I mopped up the last of the combat engineers DT faded off to since no hostiles were in the immediate vicinity.

I temporarily sheathed my claws and ran up the stairs to the top level of the Control Core loading doc. I made it to the top and sprinted across the flat rock surface all the way to a bridge that connected to the spire of rock the actual control core was built on top of. A door was built into the rock and I approached it.

"Hey you know how I got my hands on that Vault Key? See, a few years back, Wilhelm and I paid a visit to your little buddy Tannis. And we beat her for hours. We ripped it out of her broken fingers. But we let her live. Because that's what heroes do, they show mercy," Jack said ranting.

I tired to ignore him but failed, _poor Tannis_.

"Slab! You're comin' up on the Bunker! I'm sendin' some of my boys to help you out!" Brick informed my and I sighed in relief. I wouldn't have been this worried had the others come with me, _what the hell were they doing right now that was so much more important than this?_ Personally I didn't care; in fact I didn't want them to come. I wanted to prove myself … as if I hadn't done that already.

I moved through the door and after moving through I came to a rock slope that cut through and wound up the thick pillar of rock reverse corkscrew style. I moved up and almost immediately I heard an auto cannon firing, at my air support. I sprinted forward.

"Eyes to the sky Slab! My buzzards are comin' in!" Brick said one of the buzzards fell in flames. "Take out those auto cannons, slab – they're tearing up your air support!"

I continued to rush forward making my way up the steep incline. I made it to a Hyperion hexagonal floor. After rounding the rock pillar some more I saw a blue force field to my right.

"That force field protects the way to my chambers. It will only deactivate once you've destroyed the bunker," Angel said and I smiled at the sound of her voice. However, before I could reply she got off the ECHO. Couldn't blame her, it was about to get ugly.

I made my way further along the floor checking DT's status – after getting a green light I used Digistruct to go faster … by this point it was at max so using Digistruct didn't deplete my Anarchy one bit.

"Alright, playtime's over, kiddy – Brick and his mouth-breathers couldn't bust my Bunker … and neither can you!" Jack said taunting me which was his mistake not mine.

I moved onto the right and somersaulted backwards up onto the center platform. I did substitute part of my brain with a beyond complicated bit of nano tech which unlock a shit ton of Digistruct options for me to use.

I do remember vividly going through the operation, and the moments before begging my dad to get it over with. He had paid a very surprised and very brief to Pandora to check up on me. Instead of catching up I immediately pressed him to do this very invasive and possibly deadly surgery. Luckily for me dad handled it like a pro and it had gone smoothly. I even got to hug him goodbye.

I unloaded my Tea Pot into the base of the first automatic turret and it exploded in acid and sparks. "Hell yeah! One auto cannon down," Brick said. "Oh crap – keep fightin' slab, bust those guns!"

11 – no joke – more auto cannons appeared all over the outer ring and center platform. I was quick to use my Tea Pot to take out the auto cannons and thankfully the buzzards were efficiently distracting and occasionally taking out some of the loaders. I brought out DT to make sure no Loaders shot me in the back while I was destroying the auto cannons.

Brick said, "Laser countermeasures! Jump!"

And I did avoiding the lasers jumping to great heights and using a corrosive sniper I had snuck from Maya's personal stash. I didn't really feel guilty about it, since I technically needed it more. I went into a haze taking out the auto cannons went in a blur, Brick's voice snapped me back into reality, "Ha-HA! No more auto cannons! Good job slab!"

"You really thought I'd protect Angel with only a couple of bots and flimsy turrets? See, you're not at the bunker right now. The Bunker isn't a place," Jack said and as I landed on the center platform from a particularly high jump the odd shaped thing rose from the platform. It was big and I could tell obviously LOADED with deadly weapons. "THAT'S the bunker. Meet the BNK-3R the greatest defense bot ever built. Designed her myself. Now do me a favor and die."

I summoned DT to my side and prepare for a harrowing fight. I used Maya's sniper rifle three times to get started on the bunker's health when Maya contacted me saying, "Are you using my sniper rifle?!"

"KIND OF BUSY AT THE MOMENT! YOU KNOW, THE BUNKER'S TRYING TO KILL ME!" I yelled back and temporarily disabled my ECHO communications from Sanctuary.

"Oh crap, the bunker went airborne slabs – this is gonna get messy!" Brick said.

"No shit," I replied and adjusted my scope just waiting for the bunker to settle down and stop flying around. DT covered my back and sides from the Loaders while I concentrated on the front swiveling to follow the bunker's flight path.

It settled and I switched to my final gun in my relatively small arsenal, a corrosive Bitch. I concentrated on a the bunkers sensory unit near the middle of its body facing me and in a matter of 30 seconds of me doggedly pouring corrosive bullets into its system it flew off and changed its flight course above the raised roof section directly across from the waterfall. I stood in the middle of the central platform; DT hovered silently at my side.

"Holy crap – that is a big ass gun," Brick said. And indeed what looked like a Gatling gun sprouted out from the bunkers underbelly.

"DT! Waste that waste of metal!" I shouted and DT charged up and shot a highly concentrated fire-y beam of destructive awesomeness straight into the bunker's main optic nerve.

The bunker crashed onto the roof structure and died down. Jack stayed oddly silent.

"With the bunker destroyed you can access the door to my chambers. Move quickly," Angel said. She didn't have to tell me twice. I moved quickly jumping down a level and hurrying back to the blue force field.

"I'm nearly there, soldier! I'm climbing up the rear of the control core – I'll meet ya inside!" Roland said and I picked up the pace.

I made it to the place I remembered the force field being, but now it was gone and in its place a doorway was open to me. As soon as I stepped inside the tight doorway I heard a robotic voice say, "Preparing bio-scan. Please stand on the Hyperion emblem."

I complied and the system said, "Scanning bio-signature." I was scanned and it a moment later it said, " Bio signature confirmed; hello, sexy. Awaiting password."

"The password is…I love you," Angel informed me.

Roland said, "That voice modulator better work or this will have all been for nothing."

I inserted the pocket watch above the voice recognizer. Jack's dull voice said, "I love you."

The robotic voice confirmed a success and the final doors opened. "Consider this your final warn – no consider this MY final warning. Turn around and I promise I'll make it quick. But I swear, you take one more step, every soul back in Sanctuary will die staring at their own lungs as I rip them from their chests."

I was thoroughly disturbed by Jack's comment, but I knew I needed to go through with this. I walked onto the elevator and pushed the button. As I descended Angel said, "Eridium alone could never charge the Vault Key. It needs a catalyst – something to awaken its powers. It needs … a Siren. Jack acquired his Siren catalyst a long time ago. He kept her hidden from the world for years, but – finally you will be able to set her free."

The elevator finally stopped and finished its decent. I turned around and walked toward the door while Angel said, "I detect you're getting close. Hurry and reach me – you must get the Vault Key and … deal with me."

Following that cryptic message I moved forward and passed through the door. I entered a tight metal circular area that branched off to the left in a corridor that ended in another circular area. I moved along the corridor and reached the adjacent chamber. Upon reaching the middle of the area I pressed the green button on the stand sprouting from the middle of the floor.

"Executing phase shift," Angel said and suddenly everything dissolved into streams of digistruct data. "The key is here but… To truly stop Jack from waking the Warrior, you cannot just steal the Vault Key – you must destroy his catalyst. You must destroy… me."

As I walked forward in amazement I just stared at Angel impressed even more by her beauty up close. I let her explain, "Jack spent years pumping me full of Eridium, using me to charge his Key and manipulate his enemies. Destroying the Eridium injectors that keep me… alive… will stop the Key from charging. And it will end a lifetime of servitude. Now…"

"You get the hell away from my daughter!" Jack yelled. Angel was pulled back through an opening doorway and she screamed. I ran after her regardless of what lay ahead. "What the hell are you doing, Angel?!"

"Stopping you, you piece of –"

"Rrgh – language!"

"The Eridium injectors destroy them!" Angel prompted. I shot at them but Jack retaliated.

"Ah no you don't, shields up!"

"No!" Angel said. "I'll try and expose the injectors just hold on!"

"Bandit, if you keep this up, I'm heading down there to blow your brains out myself. You hear me?" Jack asked very pissed off.

An alarm went off and red blinked. "He's lying – the coward would never face you in person."

Out of some pads built into the floor robots emerged. I quickly dispatched them with quick eye sots with Maya's nipper rifle.

"I can't stop Jack's defenses. Be careful!" Angel shouted. "I'll help you however I can!"

Shock shield generators popped up all around the room and one began to shock me quickly depleting my shield. I quickly summoned Death trap to shield me while I disabled it.

"I'm sending ammo to you!" Angel said and I rushed over to the center of the room, where Angel was digistructing an ammo crate on the outside of the forcefield surrounding her. I grabbed it and continued to use my corrosive Bitch to take out Loader after Loader; DT was guarding me since I really didn't want him getting damaged.

Suddenly Roland said, "Hey, up here! Need a hand?"

I looked up and saw that a bridge had digitized. Roland was running cross it.

"Roland, I need you to lower the shields surrounding my Eridium injectors!" Angel prompted. And I waited around wary of any spots where Loaders could appear at any moment.

"Uh… did I miss something? Or is Angel a SIREN?" Roland said in semi shock.

"I meant NOW, Roland!" Angel prompted more strongly.

"Right I'm on it!" Roland said promptly.

As soon as Roland reached the consol more Loaders showed up and suddenly I had my hands full. Not only that Core defense laser turrets showed up and started pestering me. Thankfully DT retaliated with a much bigger laser of his own, frying them to pieces while I attempted to stem the tide of Loaders.

"This is how you Bandits fight, is that it? You can't come strait for me, you gotta kill an innocent girl?!" Jack said.

"That's how he works – he'll try to guilt you, to make you think it's your fault. Don't listen," Angel reassured me.

Suddenly two War Loaders showed up and I stuttered, "DT handle this! Now, please!" My trusty robot friend then started to lay waste to all robots insight, going from biggest to smallest.

"Shield's down, hit the injector!" Roland said and I obliged. As soon as I shot it and the thing broke free spewing Eridium all over the floor angel cried out in pain. Roland jumped down from the bridge and joined DT and me in the fray. We fought for perhaps 30 seconds until Roland yelled, "Badass Loader!"

And there I saw it; across the room one of them was emerging from a panel in the floor. Unfortunately for it DT was right on it ripping it to shreds as soon as it materialized.

"I'll expose the injectors – just stay alive!" Roland yelled out at me and I gave him an affirmative shout back. DT went back to wreaking havoc and I concentrated on avoiding the Loaders' collective gunfire staying alive and taking out the ones that I could.

Using the Digistruct part of my brain I temporarily shut down my Anarchy in order to have a lot of accuracy. I stayed well away from the bots and tried to pick them off from a distance.

"You're endangering my baby girl. This is my vow, every friend, every child, every person you've passed on the street. I'm gonna kill them all. You didn't follow the rules, bandit," Jack said menacingly and I knew I needed to put a stop to his schemes as soon as possible.

I fought more bots, and Angel provided me with more ammo.

"Sweetheart, everything you could ever want is within four walls. Angel, do you have any idea how much I've sacrificed for you?" Jack demanded. "The bandits I've killed, the people I've manipulated – everything I've done was for you!"

"Promise me you'll kill him friend," Angel pleaded. And I nodded.

"I lowered the shield, hit the injector, now!" Roland yelled. And as he fell from the fading bridge I shot the next injector. "Damnit! Now I can't reach the last injector panel! I don't know what—"

"How you doin'?" Lilith asked materializing between Roland and me.

"Lilith?! What the hell?! I told you not to come!" Roland said.

"Yeah and I didn't listen!" Lilith retorted, personally I was glad for the support. "Oh look, bad guys!"

What followed was my wet dream coming true … well technically my second wet dream. The first was banging Angel, but seeing as how I was killing her that really wasn't going to work out. DT and I were fighting alongside two badasses and in about 2 minutes we had killed so many Loaders I lost count.

"I've got ya!" Lilith said once no more Loaders were coming. She teleported her and Roland up to the injector panel, she then said something I didn't like, "This isn't over, stay on your toes!"

I sighed and juiced up DT just a little and got to work, I was only getting worse at dodging the robots bullets so I used Death Trap as a sort of shield only part of the time.

"Please. Okay. Are you hearing me? Please don't kill my baby girl," Jack pleaded. "Do you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the godamn Key – you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!"

"Jack ended my life long ago. This has to end NOW, Vault Hunter," Angel said with regret and a tear rolled down my cheek. But that was all I could spare as I finally used my Digistruct to tear open a Badass Loader. Lilith was along side DT and me.

"I got the shield down, hit the injector!" Roland prompted and I promptly blew the fucking thing to smithereens. The shield around Angel dropped.

"It's done. It's finally done. Thank you… friend," Angel said quietly as she sat there gazing up at me Lilith and Roland.

"Angel, you can STOP this! I'll still forgive you, baby!" Jack insisted.

"Dad I have to tell you something… You're an asshole."

Angel died her body crumpling into a head. Jack cried out, "Angel? No Angel!"

"What kind of person would do this to their own daughter?" Lilith asked somberly.

"The kind of guy who deserves to die," Roland answered simply. He stopped down and examined Angel's body. He rose and said facing me, "She's dead. Jack just lost his only way to awaken the Warrior. We got the Vault Key, but this isn't over yet. We gotta find Jack and take him out. Lilith take the Vault Key to Tannis, I'm going after Jack."

Suddenly a gunshot went off in the still silence and a bloody hole filled Roland's chest. Lilith screamed, "ROLAND!"

Jack had materialized behind Roland, he said, "Sup!"

"You bastard, I'm gonna –" Lilith said in a rage gunning towards Jack. He flung his fist forward and attached a shock collar to Lilith's neck.

"Language," Jack chastised. "What's that saying? Don't pick a fight with a man with nothing left to loose? See, I'm gonna show you just how much you have to lose – and I've got the most powerful Siren on the planet to do it with. Lilith, kill the Vault Hunter. We've got a date to keep with the Warrior. Do it Lilith," Jack ordered.

"[Screaming] NO!" Lilith said and she held her hand out, suddenly DT vanished and I was teleported to an unknown location.

"What happened?! What the HELL JUST HAPPENED?! First Bloodwing, now THIS?! Vault Hunter, find me in Sanctuary – we gotta get Lilith back!"

I blinked my eyes and looked around me, realizing where I was must have been Marcus's munitions back store room. I was too much in a shocked daze to really rob him of goods and other such things, and before I could scream loot I was out and into his firing range.

"What the – how the hell'd you get back there? Friggin Vault Hunters. Son of a Bitch – robbed my blind!" Marcus said the door opened to the back of his selling counter.

I waved my hand and said chipper, "Don' worry sir, I didn't steal anything." I then left before I said anything that would make my head explode.

 **A/N: Despite the fact that I didn't like how long this chapter was, I am definitely looking forward to doing another chapter. If I'm being honest with myself the next chapters may be longer than this one by at least a thousand words. But no promises, the only thing I can promise is another chapter within a week. See you then.**


	3. Chapter 3: Bearer Of Bad News

**A/N: All right this one is a lot shorter than the last two. Why? I've decided to just touch base on all the Vault Hunters, not necessarily on full main missions with all of them. So far I've gotten Axton, Gaige, and counting this chapter Salvador. That's three more left for the next three chapters.**

 **On the last one to two chapters I'll probably do either Gaige or Maya. Maybe Zero if I feel so inclined. Either way, you'll get a 1** **st** **person view, no matter how brief, from each of the 6 Vault Hunters.**

 **Primed For Prequel**

 **Chapter 3: Bearer Of Bad News**

Time flies when you're having fun, but me? I tend to be doing a whole lot of other things when time is flying. Eating for example is one of my favorites; just all the fucking food is so goddamn delicious! But not every time I eat, am I having fun. My abuela always told me, "Even if you don't like the damned food, eat it any way! … Because it's fucking good for you!" Then she'd start ranting and I'd have to go help my papa or whatever.

Another thing I do while time is flying is … thinking about anything. I'm kind of a slow thinker. So when Gaige came up to me I was completely wrapped up in thought.

"Hey! Truxican man, I'm talking to you!" She shouted in my face. The little non-ginger fireball glared at me with dagger eyes. Apparently I'd been so wrapped up I'd ignored her for quite some time. I decided to brush her off, but then the extra special smart part of my brain rationalized that she REALLY needed to talk to me.

"Yes, Gaige?" I asked with sincerity – my abuela had told me and taught me "sincerity almost always calms people down" and it did. Gaige's brow un-furrowed only slightly and she let out a sigh.

"I need you to go with me when I go talk to Mordicai," Gaige answered.

"Oh so your done with the mission, are you? How was it, you kill plenty o' sons o' bitches?" I asked half hardily, I didn't give as much enthusiasm as I normally would. I could definitely tell that something was weighing her down.

"Angel's dead, and so's Roland," Gaige said and despite the shocking earthshaking news she didn't cry or flinch when she said those five words. And neither did I. Did I want to? Hell yeah I did! But did Gaige want to? Clearly not … so in supporting her I wouldn't either. "So, will you come with me?"

"Sure thing!" I said. "Lead the way!"

And she did, lead the way that is. We went from a bench in the center of town to the place where all the leaders of the resistance against Handsome Jack normally were. After checking to make sure I was still with her Gaige walked right up to Mordicai and told him she'd completed the mission.

"Roland, sonofabitch!" He cursed under his breath. "Vault Hunters, you're all we got left. Jack killed Roland. Jack killed Bloodwing. But he is not gonna kill Lilith. Jack still needs time to charge the Vault Key – you just need to find out where the Warrior is buried. There's only one place on Pandora that'd have that kind of info: the Hyperion Info Stockade. Get there."

"Alright, cool, sounds like a plan!" Gaige said and Mordicai leaned up against a wall. Gaige turned to me and asked, "While I get some gear prepped for you, do you mind talking to Mordicai about something important?"

I nodded and stood in front of Mordicai. I looked him straight in the face, from down low, and asked, "Gaige said I should talk to you 'bout something important. What, exactly, would that be?"

"The folks in Sanctuary don't know about Roland. Almost none of them will be alive if it weren't for him, so…"

"People of Pandora. My daughter is dead. Murdered by the Vault Hunter. I'm rescinding the bounty on the Vault Hunter. If you should kill that child-murdering son of a bitch before I do? I will find you. And you will regret denying me my vengeance," Jack interrupted over a planet wide ECHO broadcast.

My eyes widened at that, Gaige killed Handsome Jack's Daughter? The only person that could have been was Angel. Wow. Tough nuts there Jack, I gotta hand it to him. Still that didn't change the fact that he was still going to dye, one way or another. Time to get to work, and by that I mean tell a bunch of people around Sanctuary that Roland was dead.

First I wound my way through the now familiar streets of Sanctuary to Scooter's place to break the news. In response he said, "I tell ya, man, I'll never forget that time when Roland and them all jumped over Pish Wash Gully. Them's was good times. …Hell, man now I'm sad. Is this what sad feels like? You kill the crap out of Jack, you hear?"

"I will," I said in response and went up a flight of stairs and out onto the street. I turned left into Dr. Zed's place. I informed the Doc of Roland's passing.

This is how he responded, "Roland's dead? Oh, god… I remember the first time we met. I healed him up after he killed some of Nine-Toe's men. He seemed nice enough. Quiet. But, damn, I … uh, I'm sorry, he deserved better."

"Yes he did," I said in agreement.

After that sad and sorry scene I walked over to perhaps my favorite place in Sanctuary, Moxxi's bar. I broke the sad news to her. She said in response, "Jack killed Roland? Son of a bitch…he helped me take care of Mr. Shank, and, unlike…well, damn near everyone else around here, he always behaved like a gentleman. I don't…I don't know what to say. Damnit, am I crying?"

"You're fine, best of luck Moxxi!" I said as I walked out, I thought I heard her chuckle darkly as I walked out.

Next I headed over and down to Markus's place. I told him the news and he said, "Roland's…dead? …Oh. Me and him didn't see eye to eye most of the time – he never liked how I sold guns to the bandits – but I would have died in New Haven if it weren't for him. He was a…he was a good man."

"Hell yeah he was!" Was my response, this made Marcus chuckle and send me out of his store.

I then went back over to the command building to inform the people still inside. First I informed Tannis of Roland's death. She said, "Had Roland not forced me to relocate to Sanctuary, I would not be alive today. I am unpleasantly surprised to find that I am…sorry that Roland is dead."

After chuckling because I knew Tannis would say something like that I bid her goodbye and rushed upstairs to tell brick.

This is how he responded, "Mordicai told me what happened to Roland. So here's what we do. We bury Roland. We save this planet. We kill Jack, his associates, his friends, his FAMILY – EVERYONE HE'S EVER MET! WE SKIN 'EM WITH THEIR OWN GODDAMN TEETH! I'm sorry. We went our separate ways a few years back, but Roland was my friend. And nobody, NOBODY hurts my friends."

"Sorry to bum you out like that, but somebody had to tell 'em. I've transmitted the code to Roland's armory to your ECHO device, if anyone deserves what's in there, it oughtta be the badass who's gonna avenge him," Mordicai said.

"Sweet! Thank you!" I said as I rushed downstairs, passed Tannis, and straight to the gate blocking a sweet looking DAHL loot chest. I opened the gate and after walking forward opened the chest as well.


End file.
